Mendocino County Today: Thursday, Jan 15, 2015

• Wet, then Cold
• Carbon Emissions Tax
• AV Surprises Mendo
• New Niners Coach
• AVHC Meetings
• Mailing KZYXers
• Catch of the Day
• Weed Plantations
• My Two Jobs
• Alcohol-falls
• Word-turn Accident
• Catholic Indoctrination
• Loving Life
• Anti-fracking Rallies

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: "Rain is expected begin tonight in northwest California and continue through the weekend. Rain will begin in Del Norte County this afternoon/evening and then expand south overnight through Friday into Mendocino County. A warm front will continue to bring periods of rain through Saturday to be followed by another cold front on Sunday."

HUFFMAN: TAX CARBON EMISSIONS, Rather Than Gas, To Pay For Roads

The story: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/home/3375936-181/huffman-tax-carbon-emissions-rather?page=0

The bill: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:H.R.5873:

GAME SUMMARY of Tuesday night’s varsity basketball game between Anderson Valley Panthers and Mendocino Cardinals by Paul McCarthy of MendocinoSportsPlus. The Panthers were rated as underdogs prior to the game.

AV Has Come To Play Some Ball.

Mendo Down 10-2 With 4:05 left First Period.

AV Surprising The Cards.

Period Winding Down Av Takes Initial Period 14-7.

AV Hits Trey To Start Second Frame, Lead 17-7 @ 7:09.

Savion Cook Gets Mendo Two.

AV Hitting & Mendo Aint. Time Out Cards 5:06 Down 22-11.

Cards Can’t Get Untracked.

Anderson Valley 26, Mendo 17 at the Half. Isaiah Graham leads the Cards With 7 Points & 7 Rebounds.

Cards Clawing Their Way Back Into Game. Salmans Hits Two Treys @ 6:46 & 4:56. Mendo Down Though 39-27 @ 2:00 of Third.

Savion Cook For Two.

Symonds Trey Pulls Mendo Closer 39-32 With :15 Left In Third.

AV Time Out 7:04, They Lead 41-32.

Symonds Trey Don't Count.

Cards Can’t Buy A Break.

AV Trey @ 4:03 Gives Them 44-34 Lead Time Out 3:57 Left..

Savion Cook Field Goal Gets Mendo To Within 7. 45-38 With 2:27 Left.

Getting Chippy @ 1:27 Mark Of Final Frame.

Another Time Out, 1:09 Left. Mendo Down 45-38 .

Final: Anderson Valley 48, Mendo 38.

First league loss for Cards this season.

JIM TOMSULA TO BECOME NEW 49ERS COACH

by Igor Mello

The 49ers have gone in-house to find their next coach. Defensive line coach Jim Tomsula has agreed to terms with San Francisco to become the team's top boss, per the team's official website on Wednesday. He was one of eight candidates to interview for the position after Jim Harbaugh's departure on Dec. 28, 2014.

“Our organization is excited to have Jim Tomsula leading this football team,” general manager Trent Baalke said in a statement. “We have had the privilege of working alongside Jim for the past eight seasons. He is a proven leader, teacher and mentor, and we look forward to seeing him apply his craft and vision to our team.”

Tomsula, 46, was the coach of the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe in 2006. He has been with the 49ers since 2007 as coach of the defensive line, but was named interim coach on Dec. 27, 2010, following the firing of Mike Singletary. Tomsula rallied his team to a 38-7 Week 17 victory over the Cardinals that year. Harbaugh was hired five days later to replace Singletary that offseason, but retained Tomsula. Now Tomsula will be Harbaugh's successor in San Francisco.

The team is expected to introduce him during a press conference Thursday afternoon at Levi's Stadium.

(Courtesy CBSSports.com)

* * *

Coaching background:

NFL Europe — Tomsula was an assistant for several years in NFL Europe. He was the defensive line coach for the England Monarchs in 1998 and for the Scottish Claymores from 1999 to 2003. Then in 2004, he became the defensive coordinator for the Berlin Thunder a position he held for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. In 2006 he became the head coach of Rhein Fire in 2006.

San Francisco 49ers Assistant Coach — Tomsula was hired as the defensive line coach of the San Francisco 49ers on January 16, 2007. He was named the 49ers' interim head coach on December 27, 2010, following the firing of former head coach Mike Singletary. He won his first and only game as 49ers coach, 38-7 over the Arizona Cardinals. Jim Harbaugh retained Tomsula in his previous position as defensive line coach following Harbaugh's hire as the 49ers head coach. Tomsula would remain as defensive line coach through all four seasons of the Harbaugh era.

(Courtesy, Wikipedia.com)

AV HEALTH CENTER MEETINGS

Change for Concerned Citizens Committee meeting date: We will meet Monday, January 19th, at 5:30 PM at Mary Pat Palmer's 2400 Highway 128... between Gschwend Road and Floodgate on the West side, about the 16.3 mile marker. Easy to find, spacious living room so please come join us!

* * *

The next AVHC meeting is January 28th at the AV Historical Museum. At the CCC meeting we will prepare a written statement to give to the board. If you have agenda items for the CCC meeting, please email or call Mary Pat: mpatpalm@herbalenergetics.com; 895-3007.

Currently on the agenda: 1. The letter from Brad Wiley that you have received earlier; 2. the website issue; 3. elections of Heidi Knott and JR Collins; 4. end of year financial report

(— Mary Pat Palmer)

MEMO OF THE DAY

Editor:

KZYX Board President, Eliane Herring's response to King Collins, a former KZYX Board member who served with distinction, regarding Mr. King's request for the list of KZYX's 2,300 members (see below) — so as to conduct a mailing at his own expense prior to the upcoming Board elections — almost makes it sound as if Mr. Collins wants to commit a postal violation.

Upon receiving a letter from Mr. Collins that meets Ms. Herring's requirements for mystery on the outside of the envelopes for the mailing, and Ms. Herring's strict requirements for dictatorial control over such a mailing, a KZYX member may rightly ask the following questions: Why the mystery? What's it in the envelope?

Kiddie porn? A Nigerian lottery scam? A chain letter? Anthrax?

Can I expect a US Postal Inspector to be showing up soon? Can I expect an FBI Counterterrorism team to be showing up soon?

I quote Ms. Herring: “Nothing on the exterior of any envelope will indicate that the contents pertain to KZYX. In case the envelopes are marked in violation of this requirement, they will not be mailed, and will be destroyed.”

Destroyed? Really?

Why not put Mr. King against a wall and shoot him?

Oh Ms. Herring! You silly, silly woman!

Sincerely,

John Sakowicz KZYX Board member, 2013-2016; KZYX Board Treasurer, 2014

* * *

July 19, 2013

Mr. King Collins

Redwood Valley

Re: Membership List; Mailing to Members

Dear Mr. Collins:

This responds to your letter of July 1, 2013 to the Mendocino County Public Broadcasting Board of Directors. You formally demanded that KZYX provide you a way to send a letter by U.S. mail to all KZYX members, at your expense. You cited certain sections of the California Corporations Code as the basis of your demand. KZYX agrees in principle to your demand. In making this response to your demand, we have carefully considered the impact of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting rules on any action we might take.

Under Section 396(k)(12) of the Communications Act of 1934, we are forbidden to disclose our donor names or other personally identifiable information to nonaffiliated third parties, subject to some very limited exceptions, none of which would apply in your case.

Accordingly, the means by which we will send your letter to our members will avoid any disclosure to you of our members’ list. Here is a plan for accomplishing the mailing. We will tell you how many members we have at the time you choose to send your letter. You may compose your letter, copy it, stuff it into envelopes, and seal the envelopes. You may deliver the stuffed envelopes to our contractor, or mail them in bulk to the contractor at your expense. In case you wanted our contractor to copy your letter and stuff it into envelopes, this would involve additional charges.

Our contractor is Ace Printing, 1925 East Francisco Blvd., San Rafael, CA 94901. At your option, you may apply first-class postage to each envelope before you deliver the envelopes to our contractor. Or you may elect to have our contractor apply the stamps. If the contractor applies the stamps, there will be a charge for this. And you will pay for the stamps in either case. Our contractor has confirmed that it is capable of printing addresses, including a return address, on envelopes that are already stuffed.

Nothing on the exterior of any envelope will indicate that the contents pertain to KZYX. In case the envelopes are marked in violation of this requirement, they will not be mailed, and will be destroyed. The names and addresses for our members will come from our members’ list. We will provide that list to our contractor in electronic form, requiring the contractor to use it only for the purpose of sending your letter. We will not be responsible for any errors in our member database that could cause one of your letters to be undeliverable. Our contractor works for us, not you.

Accordingly, we will pay the contractor and manage its performance. Please decide whether you will send the envelopes to the contractor with or without postage, and whether you require the contractor’s help in copying and stuffing your letter. Let us know your decisions on these issues in writing. We will then get a quotation from the contractor as to the total cost all services and materials that you require. We will then tell you the total cost. We will require payment in full before instructing our contractor to perform any chargeable services. After your check has cleared, we will instruct the contractor to take action.

Let us know how you would like to proceed. Please feel free to contact the Board at BOD@kzyx.org.

Very truly yours,

Eliane Herring President, Board of Directors

Cc: John Coate Board of Directors, Mendocino County Public Broadcasting

* * *

To: John Sakowicz:

There are a couple of other serious problems with your letter, more than a few typos.

First of all, I do not plan to send a letter to the members.

However, several others are planning to do just that, including two who are running for the board this year. That's far more interesting, and I'm sure we will be hearing more about that soon.

I certainly agree with you that the stipulations and restrictions on the mailing are outlandish, off-the-wall, from a Free Speech point of view. “Nothing on the exterior of the envelope will indicate that the contents pertain to KZYX.” Or even the stipulation that we must use a first class stamp. Why can't we the members use the station's bulk mail permit to communicate with each other?

Please hold your fire, John. I'd like to hear from the folks who are running for the board.

King Collins, Ukiah

CATCH OF THE DAY

ALBERTO ACOSTA, Talmage. Assault with deadly weapon not a firearm, resisting arrest.

LUIS ALVAREZ-ANDRADE, Rape, pot sales.

RUDOLFO ALVAREZ, Ukiah. Resisting arrest.

ISAIAH BENNETT, Ukiah. Under influence of controlled substance, fake ID, resisting arrest.

KEITH BETTS, Covelo. Cruelty to animals, probation revocation.

DAWNETTE BURGHDUFF, Willits. Possession of controlled substance/paraphernalia, probation revocation.

ROBERT CAMPBELL II, Ukiah. Parole violation. (Frequent flyer.)

DONALD DROWTY, Chico/Ukiah. Possession of controlled substance, possession where prisoners are kept, pot for sale, smoking-injecting device; sale, transport, furnish pot, probation revocation.

SCOTT FABER, Willits. Community supervision violation.

RACHEL ION, Yuba City/Ukiah. Possession of smoking-injecting device, probation revocation.

VERNON KNAPP SR., Willits. Drunk in public. (Frequent flyer.)

MARTIN LOPEZ, Hawthorne/Ukiah. Pot sales, transport, furnish.

RAYNA MCGINTY, Willits. Driving on suspended license.

JASON MODDER, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Under influence of controlled substance, possession of controlled substance, driving on suspended license, probation revoked.

JULIA MORENO, Covelo. Domestic assault, assault with deadly weapon other than firearm.

WILLIE MULDER, Richmond/Ukiah. Unspecified misdemeanor (Ukiah CHP).

TODDIA OUSPENSKY, Fort Bragg. DUI, contempt of court, probation revocation.

TRENTON RAMOS, Receiving stolen property, probation revocation.

PABLO REYES-SANCHES, Willits. Grossly negligent discharge of firearm, failure to appear.

STACY RICHMOND, Covelo. Domestic assault.

JEREMI SCOTT, Covelo. DUI.

VAN SLAGLE, Willits. Perjury, mandatory supervision violation, probation revocation.

STEVEN SMALLEY, Gassville, Arkansas, Ukiah. Sale, transport, furnish pot; driving without a license.

TASHINA TILLMAN, Oroville/Ukiah. DUI with priors, dirk-dagger, possession of meth.

TYLER WALTERS, Homosassa, Florida/Willits. Mandatory supervision violation.

THOMAS WILLIAMS, Redwood Valley. Receiving stolen property.

HORRIBLE GROWER BOSSES

Serious Labor Questions About Medical Marijuana Production

by Nate Collins

Weed laborers and prostitutes are among the last outcast unorganized labor pool in the US. Grower bosses are like pimps and after working six months on a weed plantation, I feel a bit, lets say, whored out. The medical marijuana industry must begin to self regulate the conduct and practices of grower bosses if we plan to maintain control of our industry. We would hate for large corporations to make their move on colonizing the industry, ala prohibition, based on the incompetent and abusive practices of small companies/collectives. The worst bosses will do the least amount of work possible while dishing out the maximum amount of verbal, physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

All laborers in the marijuana industry should beware of the following:

1. Being promised a large payout at harvest without being "assured" of your final payment or offered any collateral.
2. Being held in limbo for the payment of your labor while suffering downtime and an influx of temporary employees taking hours. When downtime becomes endemic to the job, and promises of constant work fade away, $25 an hour quickly turns to $3 an hour for long term workers (typically the most needy and vulnerable of the lot).
3. Beware of bosses using a large labor pool and divisive tactics such as gossip to create animosity amongst the employees.
4. Beware of being held hostage for months on end with limited food, water, beer, etc. without the means to leave or buy more supplies.
5. Beware of bosses who openly sexually harass women and use their wages and final payment as a carrot in order to coerce them into sex.
6. Beware of bosses who withhold payment of wages to their workers while living lavish and letting their workers go hungry and crazy.
7. Beware of bosses who build infrastructure and horde things while failing to pay their workers.
8. Beware of bosses who neglect their workload based on laziness and egotism thus reducing the final harvest quality and quantity. The unscrupulous boss will keep his share no matter what, and simply reduces every other workers share of the pie through a verbal and psychological campaign of abuse and degradation. Workers get blamed for any and all mistakes and losses.
9. Beware of bosses who are too incompetent to keep time and set tasks diligently and therefore cut employees wages by half or more.
10. Beware of bosses who sleep in past noon.
11. Beware of bosses who go shopping for several hours everyday.
12. Beware of bosses who squander the collective resources by spending excessive amounts of money on themselves.
13. Beware of bosses who cannot keep track of their own possessions and spread them out in a manner of excess and waste. They literally own so much shit that they hire people to keep track of their shit and still most of it goes to waste.
14. Beware of bosses who turn on their employees, and do things like claim employees owe the boss for room and board.
15. Beware of the method used by unscrupulous grower bosses who offer lavish room and board to start the season which quickly disintegrates into paternalistic abuse.
16. Beware of bosses who get upset when workers are happy and getting along.
17. Beware of bosses who display emotional neediness and mix their personal lives with work and business.
18. Beware of misogynist bosses who have animosity and vendettas against women in general.
19. Beware of bosses who seek out vulnerable workers. People without resources and people who travel from far to seek work are typically easier to abuse and take advantage of.
20. Beware of bosses who are predatory, egomaniacal, perverted, sociopathic, cheapskate, lazy, complaining victims, or anything approaching such a perverse state of existence prevalent among the monied class.
21. Beware of bosses who juice the plants without regard for the environment or any accountability for what substances they are pouring into the ground.
22. Beware of these entitled juvenile pricks. I will one day run a prison filled with them.

Payback is a M-effer as they say. To add insult to injury such horrible grower bosses will consider themselves above all scrutiny.

They verbalize the precise nature of their shortcomings through their vicious attacks on workers. The behavior described herein was considered criminal and urgent by the consensus of the workers. I prevented the workers and the neighbors from physically harming the boss in a serious way. I feel a bit conflicted. None of us knew what to do.

The boss was clearly suffering from narcissistic personality disorder and the only conclusion among the workers, after I dissuaded them from any violent acts, was that one of us, at least one of us would have to tell this story. The Arabs call it fard ayn (personal obligation) and fard kifaya (collective obligation). I presumed the collective obligation was on me because I kind of know how to write. Knowing this I felt I had a handle on the situation. Thanks to the working class heroes who run this fine publication, Americas last newspaper, I knew we could tell this story.

Perhaps one or more of these points will help workers in the medical marijuana industry and beyond to combat the rampant dehumanization of workers that persists into the 21st century.

Side note; there will be more weed chronicles to come. A weed plantation is kind of like "Lord of the Flies" in that the only justice and authority that prevails is what we ourselves create. It is a wonderful social experiment. Future tales to come about how I acquired the titles of health inspector, chaplain, professor, and sheriff. Onward!

MY TWO JOBS

by Jeff Costello

Unionville, Connecticut was the other side of the tracks - the sleazy, working-class end of Farmington, so disreputable it had to have a different name, lest Farmington proper be embarrassed. And it wasn't just a saying, there was literally a railroad freight line running north and south down the middle of it all. Farmington is a suburb of Hartford, whose claim to fame was the insurance industry. The Travelers Building was Hartford's skyscraper, topped with a ring that looked like fluorescent lights. Returning travelers knew they were almost home when those lights appeared in the distance.

Farmington proper was where the "better" people lived. It is the home of Miss Porter's School for girls, where Jacqueline Bouvier and others like her were sent to learn how to behave, for instance, like the First Lady of the United States. If you've seen the film of Jackie Kennedy showing off the White House dishes, her mannerisms and speech affectations were learned at Miss Porter's. Most kids from this end of town were college-bound. The class difference was painfully obvious at the public high school. Boys from Farmington generally sported the "prep" look, with the JFK sort of haircut, khaki pants, blue button-down or madras plaid shirts, blue blazers, penny loafers, etc. The Unionville kids were more the "greaser" types, either that or no style at all, and presumably headed for the workaday world after high school.

One the biggest employers in the area was Pratt & Whitney, the aircraft engine manufacturer, and many of the kids from Farmington High School went to work there. Another option was "working tobacco," plantation labor, picking tobacco leaves used to wrap cigars. You were paid by lot, the bins you were able to fill in a day. A lot of kids did this, and found themselves, for the first time, in the company of black and hispanic people from the north end ghetto of Hartford. One local company, right in Unionville, that was always hiring, was Chas. W House & Sons, a textile factory still using 19th century technology.

While still scheming to get out of town with my rock & roll band, two fellow musicians and I hired on at the textile factory. We worked 1st shift, from 7 am to 4 pm. My job involved changing large spools and spindles of thread as they emptied and filled. It was brutal work for $1.75/hr., always a race and the machines always won. At the end of the first day I was too exhausted to do anything but eat and go to sleep. I dreaded going back the next day, this hardly seemed like it would be any kind of life. At noon, I ate my bag lunch on the second floor fire escape, fell asleep and was promptly fired. The relief I felt was almost as much as when I left the army induction center in New Haven with a card declaring me 4-F, unsuitable for military service.

My next and final stab at the job world was as a stock boy in a cheesy department store called Bradlees. For $1.25/hr., my duties were picking up large boxes of ladies' lingerie at the loading dock, wheeling them back on a big cart, and placing the various items in the display bins - the bras here, the panties there and so on. Lunch was at the store restaurant, burgers or hot dogs were the choices. This was not as physically demanding as the factory job and I got by without problems until the end of the second week. My band had a gig some 40 miles away in Holyoke, Mass., and I would have to get off work an hour early. When I informed the boss of this, he said it was out of the question. There was no choice but to quit. At that moment I had made the decision forego the "security" of a regular job and take my chances. I've never regretted it.

WORD-TURN ACCIDENT

One word is all it takes

To explode a seemingly

Perfect output

Smashed!

One nose

Dive after the other

Straight as a pole turned,

Askew with every turn.

A jab, a punch 
as scraps appear.

A pinch and a puncture

Hurts like never before.

Until blood and matter

Sprayed on the cold asphalt

While everything occurs,

You watch.

Soundlessly

It takes effect but you

Just watch it happen

You realize one singular,

Grand idea whilst pain climaxes

Life goes on.

— Alyssa Sunico

WHEN I WAS A YOUNGSTER I attended a Catholic school. This made sense since I was baptized in that religion and was being raised by traditionally devout parents. Our lessons included a fair amount of religious instruction – from the pictures of imagined souls burning in purgatory to the daily prayers and recitations from the Baltimore Catechism, I was quite indoctrinated. Mind you, this was just in the first and second grades of elementary school. Of course, there were many Catholic children in the town I lived in who did not attend the Catholic elementary school. Instead, they went to public schools and took their religious instruction after Mass on Sundays. They used the classrooms in the church-affiliated school. Each Monday, while we put our desks back in the rows preferred by Sister M—, she would lead us in a prayer that implored the Almighty to keep those poor Catholic children in public schools from going astray. Often, she would follow these prayers with a short lecture about the evils of Protestantism. As for Jews, they were a lost cause and Muslims were not even on the small town US radar in 1960. In other words, while we prayed for Protestants, we did not pray for the others. Buddhists, Hindus and the rest of those not adhering to a monotheistic godhead were merely idolaters and apostates unworthy of thought. — Ron Jacobs

COCONUT PALMS

Alternative to nursing homes

At this stage of life, each year that passes reminds me of a coconut palm. It is one of the images I retain from those days of reading in the hammock during the summers of my adolescence.

I remember having read that on a southern island populated by very primitive tribes there was a unique festival to commemorate the birth of light.

To the sound of syncopated drums, the young people selected the oldest people of the village and, willingly or forcefully, these elders were lifted to the highest parts of the the coconut trees and left there with the warning to hold on tightly to the royal palms. It was their last chance to prove they were still worthy of life.

With ritual chants accompanied by the the rhythm of the drums, the ceremony consisted of the young people beginning to shake the trunks with the extraordinary energy typical of people their age. Like overripe coconuts, some of the old people would fall to the ground and the tribe left them for dead.

If in fact they didn’t die from the fall, they were finished off as humanely as possible through use of a potion and this was accompanied by another ceremony -- one of benevolence, designed to allow them to pass to the next life.

But there were other old people who managed to survive the test by holding on desperately. They would descend from the coconut palms amid great applause: they had managed to live until the next trial of the solstice and enjoyed much prestige.

There’s no old person who cannot live one more year and no young person who cannot die the next day. It only takes a a coconut falling on one’s head while he’s in Bermuda shorts, reflecting sun glasses, for example, in Punta Cana, enjoying a floral cocktail -- like Pythagoras who was killed by a pumpkin dropped from the sky by an eagle.

To live, the first requirement is to love life whether you’re young or old: to have as your principal project not to die. But at a certain age, it’s a good idea to hold on tightly to that coconut palm between you and the future each new year.

— Manuel Vicent. Translated by Louis S. Bedrock

STATEWIDE TOUR URGES GOVERNOR BROWN TO STOP FRACKING

Coalition Calls on California to Move to 100% Renewable Energy

by Dan Bacher

Governor Jerry Brown has constantly touted his "green energy" and carbon trading policies at press conferences and photo opportunities while he enthusiastically supports the expansion of fracking in California and is rushing the most environmentally destructive public works project in California history, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels.

In his Inaugural Address on January 5, as his horrendous environmental policies had driven Delta smelt and American River steelhead to the lowest population levels in recorded history, the Governor gushed:

"In fact, we are well on our way to meeting our AB 32 goal of reducing carbon pollution and limiting the emissions of heat-trapping gases to 431 million tons by 2020. But now, it is time to establish our next set of objectives for 2030 and beyond.

Toward that end, I propose three ambitious goals to be accomplished within the next 15 years:

Increase from one-third to 50 percent our electricity derived from renewable sources;

Reduce today’s petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent;

Double the efficiency of existing buildings and make heating fuels cleaner."

While Brown and his staff continue to greenwash the Governor's abysmal neo-liberal environmental policies, thousands of Californians will convene over the next week as part of the "California Crossroads Tour" calling on Governor Jerry Brown to ban fracking, stand up to Big Oil, and "move California beyond fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy," according to a news release from Californians Against Fracking.

By standing up to Big Oil, anti-fracking activists are taking on the most powerful corporate lobby in California, the oil industry. The oil industry's campaign to expand the environmentally destructive practice of fracking in California is overseen by Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and former Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create fake "marine protected areas" in Southern California's heavily-fracked waters.

“California is at a crossroads," said David Braun of Californians Against Fracking and an organizer of the tour. "Our governor and our elected officials need to decide if we’re going to be a real leader on climate change, or if we will continue to allow fracking and other dangerous extractions methods that put our communities and environment at risk."

"Californians around the state are affected by the oil industry in different ways—whether they are exposed to dangerous toxins from living near a drilling site, have potentially explosive trains rumbling through their neighborhoods carrying crude oil—but we all stand to lose if we continue to ignore warnings that spell out doom if we don’t put an end to the use of fossil fuels," said Braun.

Leaders from Californians Against Fracking are traveling to eight cities over nine days as a part of the California Crossroads Tour, designed as an opportunity for community members and experts to speak out against the negative health and environmental impacts of high-risk oil drilling, wastewater injection into deep disposal wells, and the prospect of a dramatic increase of oil by rail.

The tour kicked off on Monday, January 12, at the King Chavez High School auditorium in San Diego and will stop in Los Angeles, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Delano, San Juan Bautista, and Oakland. It will culminate Jan. 20 at the State Capitol in Sacramento, where residents will deliver messages from communities across the state to Gov. Jerry Brown, organizers said.

"In California, communities facing the threat of fracking are taking actions to protect themselves," according to the coalition. "In 2014, Santa Cruz and Mendocino counties joined the city of Beverly Hills in passing measures to ban fracking and similar oil extraction techniques. San Benito County voters also approved a fracking ban with a 59 percent majority, despite a $2 million opposition campaign by the oil industry."

The City of Los Angeles is considering a ban and two cities in Los Angeles County—La Habra Heights and Hermosa Beach—are slated to vote on fracking and oil projects in March. A livestream of the event at the Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles will be available Jan. 13 from 7-9 p.m.

The tour will be followed up by the February 7 "March for Real Climate Leadership" in Oakland that is hosted by a broad group of partner organizations and will bring thousands of people from across the state into the streets of Oakland to "call on Governor Brown to ban fracking, stand up to Big Oil, and move beyond fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy." More information is available at marchforclimateleadership.org.

Californians Against Fracking is a coalition of about 200 environmental business, health, agriculture, labor, political and environmental justice organizations working to win a statewide ban on fracking in California. Follow @CAagainstFrack on Twitter

CONTACT: Juan Gastelum at 310-905-3191, Juan.Gastelum [at] berlinrosen.com

Niketa Kumar at 610-659-2544, Niketa.Kumar [at] berlinrosen.com